President Donald Trump asked Congress for a $1.5 trillion defense budget this January and reiterated his aim with the release of his 2027 budget request Friday. Now it is up to the Republican-controlled Congress to turn Trump’s budget blueprint into reality, a much-needed step since the new spending levels would bring us in line with the 5% of gross domestic product we are asking our allies in the Atlantic and Pacific to spend on defending themselves.
Defense spending as a percentage of GDP is near historic lows at 3.7%. Only President Joe Biden, who left our nation’s defenses woefully unprepared to meet security threats posed by China, Russia, and Iran, spent less on defense. While President Barack Obama steadily cut defense spending during his term in office, he averaged above 4.5% of GDP and didn’t fall below 4% until his last year in office. Historically, we spent north of 10% of GDP on defense during the Korean and Vietnam wars, which fell to 6% under President Jimmy Carter, before rising to almost 7.5% under President Ronald Reagan.
